Life of a Cobbler

Meng Guangbin, from northeast China's city of Harbin, is one of 26 migrant workers that are CPC congress delegates.

In an interview on a microblogging service on the People's Daily website on Wednesday, the first question Meng the cobbler had to answer was "What is happiness?"

Meng Guangbin, from northeast China's city of Harbin, is one of 26 migrant workers that are CPC congress delegates.

The question has troubled some of the greatest minds.

Meng Guangbin, a delegate to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which opens on Thursday, gave an "old-fashioned" yet extraordinary answer. He said, "I'm an ordinary rural migrant worker. My shoe-mending work tells me: To help others and to do something valuable gives me the biggest happiness."

The cobbler's answer was old-fashioned because after 30 years of economic growth, although many Chinese people would not equal happiness to great wealth, they would acknowledge happiness is impossible without it.

Meng, from northeast China's city of Harbin, is one of 26 migrant workers that are CPC congress delegates.

He was being truthful when making the altruist interpretation of happiness.

Meng has been a cobbler for 25 years. His workshop is named "Lei Feng", after China's iconic soldier embodying altruism. Meng lives up to it. He has donated 50,000 yuan (US$7,990) to charity out of his meager earnings, and has fixed over 120,000 pairs of shoes for free.

When asked about how he can keep doing the job while enjoying it for 25 years, Meng replied, "I have never thought about giving up my job. I view my profession as a cause that has my commitment. My cause is to pass along the spirit of Lei Feng." Lei Feng was an unselfish role model soldier praised by late Chairman Mao Zedong.

Meng and his family live in a low-rent apartment less than 20 square meters. He has refused to move to a bigger one twice the size because his home is big enough for his family of four.

In the interview, one microblog user asked how did Meng support himself, as he did work for free. "Repairing shoes is the major source of income for me. I charge little for major repairs and none for tiny repairs. I don't earn much, but can still lead a life," said Meng.

When asked what a good person is, Meng said, "A good person is of clear conscience with a loving and grateful heart. A good person gives back to society."

Another microblog user was curious about how life has changed for Meng after being elected as a delegate to the CPC Congress. "The party and the state give greater attention to us (migrant workers) now, so we must do our work well," he said.

Meng has done his homework and will vote in the election of a new CPC Central Committee.

"China is still a country with a surplus of labor, that's partly why we work a lot but earn little," he responded.

But when asked what he wishes to do if he could choose another trade, Meng said, "I will again choose to be a cobbler. Nothing is going to change my determination to run my Lei Feng Workshop."